Buy it... if your nostalgia for Rachel Portman's broad strokes of
romance from the 1990's sends you searching for every new variation of
that sound in existence, even if it only lasts here for a few minutes.

Avoid it... if you expect Portman to challenge herself with any
deviating stylistic exploration in this highly predictable, but still
affable work.

EDITORIAL REVIEW

FILMTRACKS TRAFFIC RANK: #1,758

WRITTEN
7/5/09

BUY IT

(9.99)

Portman

Grey Gardens: (Rachel Portman) Few in the younger
generations will recall the fascinating story of Edith Bouvier Beale and
her daughter Little Edie, relatives of Jackie Kennedy Onassis whose
lives of codependence and nostalgia left them as one of the most lasting
memories from America's tale of Camelot. From their impressive Hamptons
estate, the Beale family was a foremost part of aristocracy in the first
half of the 20th Century. But as that estate fell apart in the 1960's
and 70's, the surviving mother and daughter lived a life of desperate
isolation in their decaying mansion, hassled by health inspectors and
living in absolute squalor even as Jackie Onassis continued to
financially support their ghostly lifestyle. Two documentary filmmakers
stumbled upon them while investigating Onassis' family, and after much
coaxing, the women allowed themselves to be the subject of an entire
1975 documentary film. Hailed as a classic, this documentary has
inspired several books, a stage play, and even a Broadway musical
through the years, and it is the subject of a highly acclaimed HBO
production that aired on the channel in April of 2009. Director,
producer, and co-screenwriter Michael Sucsy painstakingly recreated the
circumstances of the documentary, even including the filmmakers as
characters and re-shooting the older footage as faithfully as possible.
Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange are aged through 40 years of the story,
earning significant praise in the process. In fact, there has been
speculation that had Grey Gardens been released theatrically
instead of on television, it could have earned a few Oscar nominations.
Another high profile name attached to the project is Rachel Portman,
whose productivity in feature film scores has diminished throughout the
2000's as she has concentrated on raising her family. In the second half
of the decade, she has primarily taken assignments that may seem odd on
the surface but do actually have feminine undercurrents in their plots
(stories concentrating on strong or at least intriguing female
characters seem to lure her to her piano to write). None of the material
she has produced during this time has been particularly groundbreaking
for the composer. After a few ventures into more varied genres in the
early 2000's, Portman has fit comfortably in a place that reminds
listeners of her most familiar stylistic tendencies of the height of her
career in the 1990's.

Undoubtedly, Grey Gardens can be classified as a
film that reflects Portman's trademark sensibilities perfectly. The
score consists of the strings and woodwinds of the City of Prague
Philharmonic joined by solo piano and soprano sax, with rarely any other
element playing a role. Not surprisingly, the strings are relegated to
the usual Portman position of serving as broad backing for the endeavors
of the piano and woodwind performances prominently placed on top of
them. The thematic structures will be recognizable as well, with
pleasant string ostinatos and piano rhythms carrying free-floating
harmonic progressions of hopelessly optimistic character. The most
robust theme is called "Love is Devine," and it is in these cues on the
album presentation that Portman allows for the bass strings to bring
truly dramatic depth to the soundscape. Other themes follow the women as
well, the most lovely being a romantic idea conveyed by full ensemble in
"Wedding Jewels." Most of the other performances of the thematic
identities are restrained to soft solo levels. The grim portions of the
score (which naturally become more numerous as it progresses) present
stern bass string explorations that will remind of Oliver Twist
in parts. The overarching style of the score is frightfully consistent
with Portman's prior work, including the waltz-like movements that have
often defined her most actively engaging works. That use of the slow
waltz rhythms is a bit more pronounced here, however, and it is
completely appropriate. The score mingles with source songs by Jerome
Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and others, featuring performances by the
cast principles over solo piano that has a hint of high times of wealth
and style from Gosford Park. A scratchy reprised version of
Lange's "We Belong Together" is effective though breaks up the flow of
the album in its midsection. For Portman enthusiasts, the affable
character of Grey Gardens will make a predictable, if not
unnecessary extension of an already representative collection. It is an
ultra-easy listening experience, but at 30 minutes it's understandably
redundant. Somewhere between five and ten minutes of this score's most
evocative moments will suffice, led by a "Wedding Jewels" cue that is
the only true reminder of the deep, rumbling beauty of Only You
and Addicted to Love to be heard here. Otherwise, the score is
efficiently pretty but largely unremarkable. ***@Amazon.com: CD or
Download

Bias Check:

For Rachel Portman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.26
(in 28 reviews)and the average viewer rating is 3.26
(in 26,318 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.